• Minnesota (20-10, 3-0 Big Ten) travels to Northwestern University (14-12, 0-2) this weekend for a three-game Big Ten series. The Gophers and Wildcats kick things off on Friday at 4:00 p.m. CT, with the first pitch on Saturday slated for 1:00 p.m., and Sunday’s game set for 12:05 p.m. The game on Easter Sunday will be televised live on Big Ten Network, with Eric Collins and Garland Cooper providing the call.

• The Gophers are 20-10 overall and 3-0 in the Big Ten after sweeping a three-game series at Iowa last weekend. Minnesota opened with a 4-1 win against the Hawkeyes on Friday, and then swept both games of a Saturday doubleheader, 7-3 and 10-1.

• Head coach Jessica Allister is in her third season at Minnesota with a record of 82-56 (.594). She entered the season with 62 victories over her first two seasons, which are the most over a two-year span since Minnesota combined for 70 wins during 2003-04.

• Minnesota owns an all-time record of 44-49 against NU, but the Gophers are 4-1 versus the Wildcats over the past two seasons. Last year in Evanston, Minnesota won two of three games by splitting a doubleheader and then winning the rubber match. The Gophers won the series opener, 10-2 in five innings, then dropped an 8-0 decision in six innings, before winning the final game, 6-3 in eight innings.

• Minnesota has combined to hit 24 home runs in its 30 games so far, after hitting 53 homers in 53 games during the 2012 season. Junior centerfielder Bree Blanchette, sophomore shortstop Tyler Walker and sophomore third baseman Kaitlyn Richardson are tied with five home runs apiece.

• Junior right-handed pitcher Sara Moulton was ranked among the top 25 for victories (6th), shutouts (6th), earned run average (10th) and hits allowed per seven innings (22nd) in this week’s NCAA stats. For the season, Moulton is 17-6 with a 1.14 ERA, 15 complete games, and 174 strikeouts in 148.0 IP.

• Tyler Walker and Kaitlyn Richardson each have impressive numbers over the past five weekends. Richardson is batting .484 (30-for-62) with 14 R, 17 RBI, five doubles and three HRs, while Walker is batting .451 (32-for-71) with 24 runs scored, 14 RBI, six doubles, four home runs, and 11 stolen bases in 12 attempts.

(For the PDF version of the full 26-page Minnesota Game Notes, click the link in the box at the top of the page, or Click Here)